Golden Ball Odds
Golden Ball odds are predicted for the best footballers in Russia World Cup this year. Like on every tournament since 1982, the award is given to the most exciting and talented players.
Let’s take a look at how exactly the Golden Ball award is given and its history during the last nine World Cup competitions. This year, it’s going to be the 10th time this reward will be given and there are so many possible winners!
As a side note, this doesn’t mean that there were no awards for the best players in the tournament before 1982, it’s just that they were different ones back then and weren’t called the same.
Golden Ball Award in World Cup
To put it simply, Golden Ball is the award given to the best footballer in that year’s tournament, judging from their performance during the World Cup matches from group rounds to the finals.
The player doesn’t have to be from the winning team, though more often than not, it’s someone from the top four at least. As to how the award is given, there are several processes involved.
First, the experts from FIFA announce the small list of the potential candidates. Then, there’s a voting that often involves the fans as well, the winner of which gets the Golden Ball award for the year.
What’s interesting is that the runner-up and the third place winner according to the vote get Silver Ball and Bronze Ball awards as a result, copying the style of the Olympics.
Not to be confused with the Golden Glove and Golden Boot awards, this one encompasses the other two in a way as it can be given to any single player regardless of their position in the field and the main role in-game.
The award is often given to the attacking players or top scorers, though Germany’s goalkeeper Oliver Kahn has also won it in 2002, leaving Brazil’s Ronaldo just behind.
Golden Ball Odds Explained
The odds of winning the Golden Ball greatly depends on the footballer’s skill and how they manage to use it in the tournament. A famous name is virtually useless here as only the current games are considered.
So, if you were to bet on a player, do so on one that you think will perform better than everyone else this year as that’s exactly what the award is all about.
As a result, the odds offered in this market today depend a lot on other markets. You’ll find that the majority of players in these lists are mentioned the lists of top scorer, top assists and man of the match as well.
Some Footballers You Can Bet On
Here are a few examples just so you know what kind of odds we’re talking about right here.
- Neymar: 6/1
- Lionel Messi: 7/1 (the winner of Golden Ball 2014)
- Kevin de Bruyne: 20/1
- Thomas Muller: 25/1 (the winner of Silver Ball 2014)
- Kylian Mbappe: 30/1
- Andres Iniesta: 40/1
- James Rodriguez: 50/1
- Manuel Neuer: 60/1
- Robert Lewandowski: 75/1
- Luka Modric: 80/1
- Emil Forsberg: 200/1
Golden Ball odds are given to the best players from various teams as those who are the most likely to show the best performance in Russia World Cup 2018.
